Chapter 16 - The Dinner at AureoleTo celebrate the final closure of the federal investigation and the absolute stabilization of Reed Global, Graham insisted on a dinner reservation at the exact same rooftop restaurant in Las Vegas where it all started: Aureole.
We sat at a corner table overlooking the glittering expanse of the Strip, the desert night sky a velvety dome of deep violet and electric neon.
The waiter poured two glasses of the exact same vintage champagne we had recklessly ordered months ago during that fateful client dinner.
"To closed cases," Graham said, raising his glass across the white linen tablecloth.
"And to never waking up in a stranger's penthouse suite again," I added, clinking my glass against his with a sharp, resonant ring.
Graham chuckled, taking a slow sip of his champagne while his eyes never left mine. "Speak for yourself. I’ve been trying to convince you to move into my penthouse permanently for three months, and you keep insisting on keeping your Chicago apartment lease."
"My apartment has my cat, Graham. And my own coffee maker," I countered, though I couldn't keep the teasing edge out of my voice. "Besides, a girl needs options when her husband is a billionaire corporate mogul with a habit of emergency Vegas weddings."
"Options are good," Graham agreed smoothly, reaching across the table and sliding a small, dark velvet box right next to my water glass.
I stopped mid-sip, my eyes darting from the box back to his face. "What is this? Another postnuptial asset clause?"
"Open it," he instructed quietly.
I set my glass down, picked up the velvet box, and flipped open the lid.
Inside, resting against white silk, wasn't a corporate document or a legal contract. It was a stunning, custom-designed diamond eternity band crafted to fit seamlessly right beneath the heavy platinum wedding ring I had worn since that crazy morning in the hotel suite.
"When we got married in that twenty-four-hour chapel," Graham said, his voice dropping an octave, losing all its corporate polish and sounding raw and entirely sincere, "we didn't have rings, we didn't have family, and we barely had time to breathe. You wore a platinum band because it was all we could find in a hurry."
He reached out, lifted the diamond band from the box, and slid it gently onto my left ring finger, locking it securely beneath the plain platinum circle.
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"This one," Graham whispered, his fingers lingering against mine, "is for everything we survived. And everything coming next."
The desert breeze blew softly across the rooftop terrace, carrying the distant hum of the Strip below us, while the city glittered like a sea of diamonds, marking the beginning of a chapter that would never end.
